Politely we take our seats, as it were
Upon the long side of the afternoon
To behold the unrav’ling of summer
Like gossamer threads from an azure spoon
Dulcet disarmer of green tree and lust
Stealing the murmur of warmth from the sun
Where rust-petaled dreams parade to the dust
And memories like wild, blue rivers run
Even the rhododendron must succumb
To terms of relinquishment and autumn
***
A stealthy Spartacus captures the land
The tallest oak tree is no more immune
To pleading its grandeur ‘neath his command
Than the starlight of pallid anemone
Soil is the equalizer of earth
Where nature and mankind will not sleep
Segregated by rank, status or worth
As winds and cent’ries the blood-stained sands sweep
The tears of the rich and poor man agree
That life and death wait beneath the same tree
***
Solidarity wanes ‘neath sober sky
Unable to maintain its green façade
The pious marigold prepares to die
The scornful weed reckons now with his god
While flaming hill, field, wooded dell and slope
Rise to meet death in scarlet crinoline
Autumn is not a ruthless calliope
Serenading the slumber of a queen
Nor is he a grand, flagrant new-comer
But simply a hand unrave’ling summer
“That life and death wait beneath the same tree.” Another standout line for me. A hundred poems could be written around that one line.
ReplyDelete...thank-you Mike. First I had something like 'that joy and grief wait beneath...but suddenly, as I was proof-reading it the other thought leaped at me!
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